The present invention relates to a part number slide rule for displaying a company part by the position of a plurality of slide members sliding therein relative to the body member.
In the past, a great variety of slide rule type devices have been utilized for making mathematical calculations as well as determining the various types of features for machinery and calculating design features. These prior art slide rule devices typically have body members with sliding members sliding therein and typically have openings in the body member for displaying indicia. In addition, the slide members may slide relative to each other for aligning indicia between slide members. Many slide rule type devices are circular, rotating one wheel portion relative to another wheel portion for aligning openings or aligning annular positioned indicia with indicia on different wheels.
The present invention is a slide rule type device for displaying a selected company's part number by the movement of a plurality of slide members within a body member to align pointers up with desired features for determining a part number. Specifically, the present slide rule is directed towards selecting the part number for a gauge based on factors such as dial size, pressure, case material, internal materials, stem size, connecting position indicia, and vacuum indicia.
Prior art U.S. patents which relate to various slide rule type devices can be seen in the Blakeley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,539, the Bulow U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,447, the Sommer U.S. Pat. No. 944,218, and in the Todd U.S. Pat. No. 271,949. Each of these patents teaches a type of calculating device for making various types of calculations and each uses some type of sliding member relative to a body member or to other sliding members. In the Goldfien U.S. Pat. No. 2,454,157, a slide rule sliding members is used for designing sewers and solving problems in sewer design. In the Gaudier-Pons U.S. Pat. No. 3,146,942, a paint calculating slide rule is provided having a plurality of stacked sliding members for calculating quantities of paint dependent upon surface area. The Fukute U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,779, is a slide rule for selecting material for constructing bearings and uses a plurality of slidable members. The Wiken U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,389, is a slide rule gear select having a plurality of sliding members adapted to facilitate the selection of gears suitable for specific power transmission applications. The Carran, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,610, is a tabular device for musical modulation which uses a body member with a plurality of slides for use in determining musical arrangements to determine the cords by which the musician may modulate a musical composition from one key to another. The Newton U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,499, teaches a decision tree graphical computer which has slidable plates with openings therein sliding in a body member and also having openings therein and specifically designed to assist decision making in monitoring and controlling processes and more specifically for monitoring a nuclear power generation plant.
In contrast, the present invention is to help salesman and potential purchasers of a product, such as a gauge, to easily enter the information that they desire for a gauge and which provides an output part number for the particular company providing the part number slide rule. Thus, anyone trying to determine which gauge to purchase can enter the various criteria, such as dial size, pressure, case material, stem size, and the like, and can produce the exact part number for the gauge needed for a particular application.